Interac e-Transfer Request Money for Business

Interac e-Transfer Request Money lets a business send a customer a payment prompt. The customer still has to review and approve the request through an eligible financial institution. Sending the request does not pay the invoice, withdraw money automatically, or prove that a deposit arrived.

For a clean accounts-receivable trail, issue the full invoice first, request the exact balance through a trusted banking channel, record the request as pending, and close the invoice only after the completed payment is confirmed in the receiving account.

What Is Interac e-Transfer Request Money?

Request Money is an Interac e-Transfer feature that asks another person or business to pay. The request normally identifies the requester, recipient contact, amount, and an optional message or invoice number. The recipient follows the request through their financial institution and authorizes the payment.

Interac also offers Business Request Money through participating financial institutions. Depending on the business setup, it can support requests inside an invoice, website, mobile app, or QR-code flow. It is not available through every institution or account, and an ordinary online-banking Request Money button does not automatically include those business integrations.

Confirm availability, pricing, limits, customer experience, and result reporting with the financial institution before putting either version into an invoice or collection process.

Does a Request Money Notice Replace the Invoice?

No. An invoice explains the sale; the request asks for payment. A short banking message may carry an invoice number, but it may not include the seller, customer, description, tax details, payment terms, adjustments, and other information needed in the business record.

The Canada Revenue Agency says income records must identify the date, amount, and source and be supported by original documents such as invoices, receipts, deposit slips, fee statements, and contracts. Send the normal invoice through the usual business channel, then use one stable identifier—such as Invoice 2026-041—in the Request Money message and internal register.

Keep these events separate:

1. Invoice issued: the receivable exists and remains open.
2. Payment requested: the customer has been prompted, but no payment is recorded.
3. Request approved: the customer authorized a transfer; verify its actual result.
4. Deposit completed: the receiving bank shows the money.
5. Payment applied: the confirmed amount reduces the correct invoice balance.

This separation prevents an invoice and its request from being counted as two sales, or a pending request from being mistaken for cash received.

How Do You Send a Business Payment Request Safely?

1. Verify the invoice and customer contact

Confirm the customer, invoice number, current balance, due date, receiving account, and any valid credit or deposit. Use an email address or Canadian mobile number already verified through the business relationship.

If payment instructions or contact details changed, confirm the change through a second known channel. Do not send a request merely because an unexpected message supplies a familiar invoice number or employee name.

2. Start from a known financial-institution channel

Sign in through the bank or credit union’s official app or website. Interac’s Request Money instructions tell requesters to select the person, amount, deposit account, and optional message or invoice number before reviewing and confirming the request.

Businesses seeking an invoice, website, app, or QR-code integration should use a Business Request Money arrangement offered by a participating institution. Do not imitate an Interac page or create a homemade banking sign-in link.

3. Request the exact amount and add a match key

Use the actual unpaid balance. State whether the request is for the full invoice, a customer deposit, or an agreed instalment. Add the invoice number or another non-sensitive reference, but never put passwords, security answers, full account numbers, government identifiers, or unnecessary personal information in the message.

If the customer receives a separate email from the business, make it consistent with the invoice and request. Tell the customer to review the request through their own banking channel and provide a known way to report a mismatch.

4. Record the request without recording payment

Create a request row with the request date, customer, amount, invoice, destination account, identifier, and status such as requested. Do not reduce accounts receivable or create another income entry.

One useful register distinguishes requested, approved, completed, declined, cancelled, expired, and replaced. The labels shown by a specific bank can differ, so preserve the original status and the meaning used in the business records.

5. Confirm the deposit independently

When a payment notification arrives, open the known banking app or website and match the completed deposit. Compare the amount, destination account, payer, date, invoice reference, and Interac reference number when available.

Do not close the invoice from an email, screenshot, request approval, or sender’s statement alone. If the displayed payer differs from the customer, follow the unknown e-Transfer sender workflow before applying the funds.

6. Apply only the completed amount

For a full payment, reduce the invoice balance to zero. For a partial payment, leave the remainder open and follow the partial-payment reconciliation workflow. Preserve a true overpayment as a customer credit or documented refund instead of increasing revenue.

If one transfer covers several invoices, use allocation lines that add back to the deposit. If a customer pays outside the request, apply that real deposit once and close or cancel the outstanding request when the institution permits it.

7. Reconcile requests, deposits, and receivables

At month-end, compare the request log with the bank account, e-Transfer notifications, customer ledger, and invoices. Investigate:

• A request with no completed deposit
• A deposit with no matching customer or invoice
• Two requests for the same balance
• A payment applied to the wrong invoice
• A request approved for an outdated amount
• A fee, refund, or correction missing from the books
• An invoice marked paid while money remains outstanding

Keep the original invoice, request history, legitimate notification, bank evidence, ledger entry, and relevant customer correspondence. For a broader receivables process, use the Canadian freelancer payment tracker.

What If the Request Is Declined, Expires, or Is Paid Another Way?

• Declined, cancelled, or expired: leave it out of completed-payment totals. Preserve the final status and decide whether to issue a replacement after checking the invoice.
• Paid by a normal e-Transfer: match that deposit to the invoice and retire the request. Do not count both.
• Paid by card, cheque, or another method: record that payment normally and close the unused request if possible.
• Partly paid: apply only the amount deposited and request the remainder only after checking the open balance.
• Wrong customer or amount: do not ask the recipient to approve it. Cancel or replace the request through the financial institution and retain the correction trail.
• Duplicate request: identify which request remains valid and tell the customer through a trusted channel. Check the bank before sending another reminder.
• Suspicious request or notification: do not use its sign-in link. Verify through the known customer and banking channels and contact the financial institution about a disputed transaction.

The cancelled, expired, and replacement e-Transfer guide explains how to keep failed attempts from changing settled totals.

How Does TransferLog Help With Request Money Payments?

TransferLog organizes details detected in supported Interac e-Transfer notification emails from connected Gmail, Outlook, and iCloud inboxes. After a customer payment generates a supported notification, you can search and filter it, assign a category, and export CSV or PDF on the Pro plan before matching it to the invoice and bank deposit.

TransferLog does not send Request Money notices, create invoices, access bank accounts, confirm settlement, calculate GST/HST, collect debts, or decide whether an invoice is enforceable. Use it for the notification side of the workflow, then reconcile the export with the source records.

Official Sources

• Interac: How to use Interac e-Transfer Request Money
• Interac: Business Request Money
• Interac: Business FAQ for Request Money
• CRA: Business records
• CRA: GST/HST invoice and receipt information

This article provides general record-keeping information, not tax, accounting, legal, or payment-security advice.

Organize supported customer-payment notifications with TransferLog. Start free, then match the export to invoices and confirmed bank deposits.